The Deities

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All religions are structures built upon reverence of Deity. Wicca is no exception. The Wicca acknowledge a supreme divine power, unknowable, ultimate, from which the entire universe sprang. In accordance with the principles of nature, the supreme power was personified into two basic beings: the Goddess and the God. Wicca reveres these twin deities because of its links with nature. Since most nature is divided into gender the deities embodying it are similarly conceived. Because the Wicca see Deity inherent in nature, many of us are involved in ecology. The Goddess and God still exist, as they has always existed, and to honor them we honor and preserve our precious planet. The Goddess and God are all powerful because they are the creatures of all manifest and unmanifest existence. We can contact and communicate with them because a part of us is in them and they are within us. The Goddess and God are equal; neither is higher or more deserving of respect. *The Goddess The Goddess is the universal mother. She is the source of fertility, endless wisdom and loving caresses. As the Wicca know her, She is often of three aspects; the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, symbolized in the waxing, full and waning of the Moon. She gives birth to abundance. But as life is Her gift, She lends it with the promise of death. She is the embodiment of fertility and love. Many symbols are used in Wicca to honor Her, such as the cauldron, cup, five-petalled flowers, the mirror, necklace, seashell, pearl, silver, emeralde, just to name a few. *The God The God has been revered for eons. The Gods domains include forests untouched by human hands, burning deserts and towering mountains. The stars, since they are but distant suns, are sometimes thought to be under His domain. The God is fully ripened harvest, intoxicating wine pressed from grapes, golden grain waving in a lone field, and shimmering apples hanging from verdant boughs on October afternoons. With the Goddess He also celebrates and rules sex. The Wicca don't avoid sex or speak of it in hushed words. Symbols often used to depict or to worship the God include the sword, horns, spears, candles, gold, brass, diamond, the sickle, arrows, magical wand, trident, knife and others. Today the deities of Wicca are still firmly associated with fertility, but every aspect of human existence can be linked with the Goddess and God. They can be called upon to help us sort through the vicissitudes of our existences and bring joy into our often spiritually-beret lives. Yes, the God and Goddess have dark aspects, but this needn't scare us off. Look at some of the manifestations of Their power. From a ravaging flood comes rich soil in which new plants thrive. Death brings a deeper appreciation of life to the living and rest for the transcended one. Wiccans emphasize the bright aspects of the deities because this gives us purpose to grow and evolve to the highest realm of existence. In truly understanding the God and Goddess, one come to understand life, for the two are inextricably entwined. Live your earthly life fully, but try to see the spiritual aspects of your activities as well. Remember the physical and spiritual are both reflections of each other. The Goddess and God are of nature, both are the delightful and the dark. We don't worship nature as such; some Wiccans probably wouldn't even say that they worship the Goddess and God. We don't bow down to the deities, we work with Them to create a better world. The way is open. The ancient Goddess and God await within and around you. May They bless you with wisdom and power.